Black Missouri police chief: KKK has influenced law enforcement ‘from when it started’

At a CNN town hall meeting on Wednesday, a Missouri police chief sternly reminded attendees about the Ku Klux Klan’s historic influence on U.S. law enforcement.

The town hall meeting was held on Wednesday, July 13 and discussed the topic of police violence and race.

Col. K.L. Williams — the black chief of police in Kinloch, Missouri — told the panel that he had so many guns pointed at his head over the course of his youth that he is frankly amazed to be alive.

“I know I could never change the condition from the outside. I had to go for the inside,” Williams said.

“If you think that racism and white supremacy is not involved in police departments, you better check yourself. Because the KKK has been involved with law enforcement from when it just about started,” he continued.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has extensively documented the Klan’s activity in the U.S., which has come in cyclical waves since the hate group’s inception during the Reconstruction Era. Often the Klan functioned as a covert enforcement arm of white governments, acting in secrecy to undermine the rights of blacks, Jews, immigrants and other groups.

About the Author

David Ferguson is an editor at Raw Story. He was previously writer and radio producer in Athens, Georgia, hosting two shows for Georgia Public Broadcasting and blogging at Firedoglake.com and elsewhere. He is currently working on a book.